DEEP SOUTH CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
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Mission Statement
The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) is dedicated to improving the lives of children and families harmed by pollution and vulnerable to climate change in the Gulf Coast Region and beyond through research, education, community and student engagement, policy action, as well as health and safety training for environmental careers.
About This Cause
The DSCEJ was founded by Dr. Beverly Wright in 1992 in collaboration with community environmental groups and universities in the Southern region to advance environmental justice. Since this time, the DSCEJ has become a powerful resource for environmental justice research, education, advocacy, as well as health and safety training for environmental careers, community residents recovering from disasters, businesses, local government entities and municipalities. The DSCEJ provides opportunities for communities, scientific researchers, and decision makers to collaborate on projects that promote the rights of all people to be free from environmental harm as it impacts health, jobs, housing, education, and quality of life. A primary goal of the Center continues to be the development of environmental justice leaders in African American and other communities of color along the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor and the broader Gulf Coast Region. While headquartered in New Orleans, LA, the Center's capacity building efforts take the form of community-centered technical assistance provision which is and translatable to environmental and climate justice communities across the country. The center provides an array of technical organizational assistance to sustain community partners that includes (1) leadership development; (2) strategic advocacy; (3) outreach and recruitment; (4) grant writing and fundraising; (5) partnership building. The Center is currently serving 153 EJ communities through its Community Investment Recovery Center (CIRC), an Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency. In response to community interest in creating employment opportunities for residents in cleaning up environmental hazards, The DSCEJ conducts worker safety and health trainings for people in underserved communities where they earn certifications in the fields of occupational safety and health, as well as develop the skills required to sustain an environmental career. The program, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) for the last 29 years, has been successfully changing the lives of underserved community residents in a total of 5 states. Students earn certifications in lead abatement, asbestos removal, mold remediation, and hazardous waste operations and emergency response. Since 1995, the Center has trained thousands in worker health and safety with a job placement rate of eighty-five percent (85%). Currently, in partnership with The Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University and under a cooperative agreement with the NIEHS, the Center leads the Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP) and the Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (HWWTP) and Emergency Response Programs in five states. ECWTP focuses on delivering comprehensive training to increase the number of disadvantaged and underrepresented minority workers in areas such as environmental remediation/restoration, construction, hazardous materials/waste handling and emergency response. The program is divided into two training phases.; (1) Basic Skills and (2) Technical Training. The Basic Skills instruction provides trainees with the personal and interpersonal skills required to deal with the challenges of everyday life and to obtain and sustain employment. The ECWTP six-week basic skills training utilizes a work-based learning curriculum. Classes include study skills, mathematics, an introduction to hazardous materials, computer basics, life skills, job readiness, and physical fitness. There is also a counseling component that provides students with problem intervention and assistance, in addition to information on a wide range of social services to aid them in achieving their educational and vocational goals. Technical training can include the following components as required by the granting agency: 40 hour—Construction 40-hour—Weatherization 16-hour—Lead Abatement 32-hour—Asbestos Abatement 40-hour—Hazardous Waste Worker 16-hour—Mold Remediation 10-hour OSHA Construction or General Industry Participants are fully certified in each technical segment completed satisfactorily and are provided OSHA workplace cards. The staff provides placement and career development assistance and continues to track the performance of both recent and past graduates. HWWTP works in partnership with unions, first responders, city governments, and small and minority businesses, among others, to ensure that workers become and remain certified – so that workers are active participants in improving work site safety conditions. Participating organizations undergo a needs assessment which serves as the basis for selecting the roster of technical training courses to be delivered. The DSCEJ believes in collaboration and partnerships which serve as the solid foundation for all of its projects and programs. DSCEJ has developed and embraces a model for community partnership that is called “Communiversity.” This model emphasizes a collaborative partnership between universities and communities. It promotes bilateral understanding and mutual respect between community residents and academicians. In the past, collaborative problem-solving attempts that included community residents and academicians were one-sided in terms of who controlled the dynamics of the interaction between the two, who was perceived as knowledgeable, and who benefited. The essence of the communiversity approach is an acknowledgment that for effective research and policy-making, valuable community life experiences regarding environmental insult must be integrated with the theoretical knowledge of academic educators and researchers. Either group alone is less able to accomplish the goal of achieving environmental equity, but the coming together of the two in a non-threatening forum can encourage significant strides toward solutions. The DSCEJ has advanced the communiversity model with the formation of the DSCEJ Community Advisory Board (CAB). The board consists of grassroots community leaders, non-profits, academics, and government officials along the Louisiana Mississippi River Chemical Corridor and the Gulf Coast Region. Over the years, the Center has built and nurtured relationships with communities and other stakeholders in effecting its mission through the use of the communiversity model. One successful example of communiversity in action is the HBCU-CBO Gulf Coast Equity Consortium through which community-based organizations in the five states of the Gulf Coast Region collaborate with HBCU faculty and student researchers to achieve environmental justice and climate equity goals resulting in community-driven research and policy action. The Center is also committed to the empowerment of environmental justice communities on a national scale as well. The National Black Environmental Justice Network (NBEJN), a project of the DSCEJ, is a national coalition of environmental justice organizations and activists of African descent. Founded in December 1999 and relaunched in August 2021, NBEJN currently engages with over 50 individual members and over 30 member organizations committed to fighting for climate and environmental justice at the grassroots level. NBEJN is dedicated to improving the lives of Black people and addressing the racism that harms and denies equal access to environmental, climate, racial and economic justice, health equity, political power, civil rights, and human rights. The project currently operates with seven regional hubs, including over thirty member organizations, boasting a 47% year-on-year growth rate since 2021. Dr. Beverly Wright, founder and Executive Director of the DSCEJ, understands the importance of legacy and is dedicated to educating, training and mentoring the next generation of environmental justice and climate professionals to carry on its mission. The DSCEJ annually hosts the HBCU Climate Change Conference, engaging more than 300 students from over 30 HBCUs to present their work in researching and finding equitable solutions to climate change, where they learn from accomplished experts in diverse fields related to environmental/climate science and policy. Living in EJ communities takes a tole on the emotional health of residents, especially children. NavigateNOLA is the social and emotional wellness division of the Deep South Center. Navigate NOLA social workers provided direct support and serve as change agents themselves, while also providing training and professional development to social workers across the city, creating new cohorts of change agents equipped to shift policy, culture, and practices in their own schools. Recognizing that environmental and climate justice issues exist worldwide, the DSCEJ has been an active NGO participant in and presenters at annual United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) convenings since 2000. In 2022, the DSCEJ hosted the first Climate Justice Pavilion in the Blue Zone where world leaders meet and make decisions concerning climate issues; thereby amplifying the voices of local, regional and national EJ communities on a world stage. The Center is currently planning the second iteration of its Climate Justice Pavilion at COP30 to be held in Brazil.